The Hollywood Reporter’s choice to put eight white women on the cover of its annual “Actresses Roundtable” issue wasn’t a harmless oversight. Despite the lip service paid to issues of inequality in both Hollywood and the press that covers it, the racial homogeneity displayed on the magazine’s latest cover is no mere accident. The cover is the result of choices by those in power that do not reflect reality, but do indicate the limited universes of the people who make decisions.

In the accompanying article by Stephen Galloway, the women discuss the difficulties of navigating sexism in their careers. But a discussion of the wage gap in a profession – or any form of discrimination – without the presence of those who suffer most is inexcusable. If white A-listers like Cate Blanchett and Jennifer Lawrence cannot be paid fairly, then, surely, the situation is far more dire for black or Latina actors. Theirs is a story that must be told, and it should be told now.

Otherwise, talking about gender discrimination only in the context of white women communicates that the only inequality that matters is that which affects white women.

Galloway offered an anemic response to the expected criticism of his whitewashed cover, but his explanation fell flat because he failed to acknowledge how media acts as an institutional apparatus to maintain the status quo, and because a large, mainstream publication does not get to blame its own lack of inclusiveness entirely on the film studios.

By selecting eight white women, the Hollywood Reporter’s editors have not only told us what Hollywood is, but what they want it to be.

That the actors in question are the presumptive nominees for the film industry’s most prestigious awards doesn’t mean much when Galloway acknowledged that their placement on the cover is not based on their performances because the editors have not yet seen them. And merit-based arguments for an all-white cover are moot when “merit” is solely determined by a system that disregards the talent of black female actors, relegates them to stereotypical, underdeveloped roles and does not push them for greater exposure in publications like the Hollywood Reporter.

Actors of color face huge barriers to mainstream success, from a lack of meaningful work to casting directors’ antiquated ideas of who the public will accept to the assumption by executives that there isn’t an audience for productions that are too “black”. So many black female actors grace our television screens each week because film studios have deemed them dispensable. Despite proving time and again that their work is rigorous and bankable, black women actors are, simply, unseen by studios and unseeable by the public.

The Hollywood Reporter not only rendered black actors invisible; it perpetuated the lie that white actors exemplify greatness, mere months after Viola Davis’ stunning speech on the systemic exclusion of black women at the Emmys.

Shallow nods to the theoretical importance of diversity will not solve structural racism. It is up to those of us who know and value the work of women of color to be vigilant about making sure that they are always at the table and to refuse any excuse for their absence.

It is fashionable right now to discuss diversity in the media and in media representations, but taking on the responsibility of making inclusion a reality is far less appealing. Building inclusivity into Hollywood – and all media – takes more than one concrete action, and there is no time for self-congratulation on past victories. Change will only come with consistent, continued intervention to include not only women of color, but also women who are disabled, plus-size and transgender.

Frankly, if the Hollywood Reporter’s editors convened and concluded that eight white women were the best representation of female actors today, then the Hollywood Reporter needs new editors. This was a missed opportunity to meaningfully critique the glaring whiteness of Hollywood. Instead, they celebrated it.